Welcome back to the Ties That Bind.

This week, we go back North to the shores of the Baltic Sea for the perspective from Latvia.

In this episode, we’ll hear from three Latvian experts on the evolution of the country’s defense posture, NATO cooperation, and its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We’ll also hear about what’s happening on the domestic front, with the evolution of national and municipal civilian defense programs, Latvia’s infrastructure investments, and how the country’s public sector is thinking about resilience and building trust in a whole-of-society defense approach.

Featured Guests:

* Māris Andžāns is the Director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga and an associate professor at Rīga Stradiņš University.

* Ieva Berzina is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security and Strategic Studies, National Academy of Defense of the Republic of Latvia, and an associate professor at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences.

* Linda Ozola is a Councilor of the Riga City Council, and former Deputy Mayor of Riga (2020-2025).

Listen to the previous episode Lessons in History and Communications from NATO’s Principal Spokesperson here.

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